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From the Editor – March 2025
I particularly hope that you’re all managing to hold fast to the things that really matter in your lives as we outsiders watch in amazement while unelected President Musk continues his unopposed takeover of the Oval Office, the US Government and the private affairs of his fellow citizens while Presidential-impersonator Trump sits on the sidelines amusing himself by dancing to Putin's tune in aligning America with Russia against my friends in Ukraine (his televised bullying of the Ukrainian leader was one of the most shameful events in US history); extending US support for the genocide of the Palestinian people; picking on the vulnerable members of US society (including many who voted for him); insulting and threatening America’s long-time allies (like Canada), thereby shaming his own county; planning petty revenge against his opponents; attacking the very Constitution that he recently swore to uphold; playing golf at a cost to the American taxpayer of millions per round; and pursuing the personal enrichment of himself and his billionaire friends. Contemptible ………
I find it very hard to accept that so many of my valued American friends and neighbors (almost 50%) would have covertly shared this imperialistic and dictatorial attitude towards long-time friends and allies towards whom they’re always openly displayed goodwill which has been sincerely reciprocated……………it’s hard to remain focused on model engines given such distractions, but I’m doing my best..…….. Sticking with the bad stuff, last month I posted some information about a recent disastrous experience with eBay’s Global Shipping Program (GSP) which revealed some serious flaws in that program which I thought to be well worth sharing. It seems that I struck a chord – during February I heard from eight readers in various countries around the world who reported having similar experiences with the GSP.
Reader Paul Smigelski was one of those who will no longer become involved with international transactions involving the GSP. He commented that Buyee, the Japanese version of eBay, is even worse. They evidently confiscate engines as does GSP, only neither the buyer nor seller get compensated! Straight theft ……..definitely something to avoid!
Another welcome contact came from my valued mate Peter Valicek of the Netherlands. Peter sent me images of two engines that have recently come his way. The sideport diesel has now been identified as a Buchmann replica made by Richard Gron, while the other glow-plug unit remains unidentified. It has been suggested that it may be a Thaler. However, no-one has so far been able to confirm this identification. Can any kind reader help? I also heard from Amadeus Kurtz (by way of Luis Petersen) about the second International Model Engine Swap Meet held in Lampertheim-Hüttenfeld on the initiative of Amadeus Kurz and Dr. Peter Rathke. This event was hosted by Bernd Wagner, owner of the L.W. Compressors company, who graciously permitted the use of his facilities. I strongly recommend that my readers peruse the lavishly illustrated event report by Michael Schmutz, which may be accessed here. But have a good supply of Kleenex on hand to catch the drool!! Vintage motorcycle fans, check out the MV Augusta demonstration!
My own all-new articles for the month take us to England and Japan respectively. First, there’s an article setting out the history of the Embee diesels from Leicestershire, England. The nominally 0.75 cc barstock sideport model produced under this trade-name is fairly well-known, but some of the other models are considerably more obscure. All in all, it’s an interesting story!
That’s about it for this month, fellow enthusiasts. All being well, and assuming Trump’s Troopers or Musk's Marauders don’t invade my country in the meantime, I plan on returning in April with a few more reviews for your reading pleasure. In the meantime, I really appreciate all the expressions of support that I’ve continued to receive from so many of you! Adrian Duncan British Columbia, Canada ___________________________________ Note regarding material to be found on this site - unless specifically otherwise noted, all images and text which appear on this site are my own work, and I hereby assert my right to be recognized as the originator of this material. For the record, this material is made freely available to all upon two firm conditions:
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Greetings once more to one and all! Apologies for the late appearance of this issue, but I've explained the reason in a separate email - another medical issue, albeit unconnected with my former challenge. I'm back home now and working on regaining my strength (yet again!). I hope very sincerely that this Editorial finds you well. If I've learned one thing from my recent experiences, it's that our health is our most important asset - look after yours!!
The ongoing display of sabre-rattling and aggressive hostility currently emanating from the “New USA” towards other hitherto-allied sovereign nations remains of the greatest concern to residents of Trump’s target countries like Canada – is this really what Trump supporters voted for?!? If so, you've been deliberately fooling your non-American friends for a long time, and both America and the world are in even deeper trouble than many of us suspected. Get this straight, Elon and Donald – we’re proudly Canadian and deeply committed to remaining so!! And our leader's title is Prime Minister - stop insulting over 40 million of us by calling him Governor!! 
It seems that the problem stems from eBay’s package evaluation protocols applied to their GSP – these evaluations are carried out by computers, not people, and certain words and phrases on the contents declaration seem to trigger such confiscations. In the case of our interests, the term “model airplane engine” seems to be such a trigger – such engines “may contain oil”. Oh dear …….. By contrast, such descriptions as “old engine for toy airplane” seems to pretty much guarantee transmission of the shipment – toys don’t contain oil!! “Parts for old toy airplane” also seems to work well – after all, an engine is part of an airplane! The word “toy” seems to open most doors!
Anyway, the problem with GSP is clearly chronic. It’s apparently been ongoing for some years, and it’s now clear that eBay isn’t going to do anything about it – my own complaints fell on deaf ears. The country of origin and the destination country don’t appear to factor into this – affected countries at both ends are all over the map, with no discernable pattern. Over half of those from whom I’ve heard say that they will no longer participate in international GSP transactions involving model engines as either buyers or sellers. Each of us has to make up our own mind on this issue……………at least you’ve been warned!
Now to a far happier topic! Back in May of 2023 I received a request from Libor Janouch of the Czech Republic (aka Czechia) for assistance in tracking down the plans for Tom Crompton’s EZE-2 home-constructed diesel which was featured in the November 1998 issue of “Model Engine World”. My good friend Chris Murphy of New Zealand was kind enough to supply a copy of these plans which were in his possession.
Libor has now contacted me again to report that he has successfully completed his own example of this engine. The image at the left shows that he has done a first-class job – the engine looks great and runs extremely well. My congratulations to Libor for a task very well completed! Libor is now hoping to find plans for the 
OK, on to the new articles! Given the uncertainty regarding how much longer this site will remain active given Trump's aggression, I’m trying my best to make every edition count. For this month, I’ve managed to assemble an unusually large amount of engine-related information to share with you! In part, this is courtesy of yet another contribution from my valued friend and colleague Maris Dislers of Glandore, South Australia. Maris has gone to great lengths to assemble a detailed history of the very rare 
My second article represents a follow-on to last month’s piece about the 
Finally, the MEN transfer article deals with the chain of events leading up to the appearance of one of the most iconic model racing engines of all time – the | |